Pumpkin Creme Brulee

My mom has always been known for her extravagant Thanksgiving, and though I realize it has been quite a few months since we've had our share of turkey, I still thought it would be worthwhile to show the crowd pleaser dessert of this year's feast. This recipe not only calls for you to use pumpkin in the batter, but also to place the creme in the pumpkin itself! We had some difficulties finding the right sized pumpkins and you must be careful when you cook the dessert that there are no holes in the pumpkins so that the creme brulee doesn't seep through but in the end the work was completely worth it!

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 cups heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 16 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

2. Heat the cream and vanilla in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat; bring to a simmer. Whisk together the egg yolks, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, cloves, and pumpkin in a bowl. Slowly pour 1 cup of the cream mixture into the egg mixture, stirring continually. Then pour the entire egg mixture into the saucepan; whisk briskly for 1 minute. Pour the mixture into ramekins. Arrange ramekins on a baking sheet.

3. Bake in preheated oven until set, about 15 minutes; refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.

4. Before serving, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar over the top of each creme brulee. Use a kitchen torch or your oven's broiler to caramelize the sugar. It may take 2 to 3 minutes in the broiler. Serve immediately.

These definitely impress.